For Immediate Release
September 1, 2015
 
Cards drop first match of season
 
HOUSTON – The Lamar University volleyball team put together a first set win, but a couple of mistakes early gave Rice the momentum to take over and defeat the Cardinals, 3-1 (28-26, 19-25, 17-25, 16-25), on Tuesday at Tudor Fieldhouse.
 
The Cardinals (3-1) opened up the first set with a 4-1 lead after a kill by reigning Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year Chelsea Grant and three attack errors from Rice. From there, the Cardinals grabbed a 13-6 lead after an attack error from Noelle Whitlock, which forced the Owls (3-1) to call a timeout. 
 
"I was happy with the way we played in the first set," said head coach Alan Edwards. "We played very tough and stayed in system through all of it."
 
The Owls surged back and cut it to 16-15 and eventually tied it at 21-21. From there, it was a back-and-forth contest that featured five ties before it ended.  Carlyn Stella made it 22-21, but a service error tied it again. Kills by Cortney Moore and Rice's Stephanie Mendivil kept it tied at 23. A service error by the Owls gave LU the advantage again, but Portia Okafor tied it at 25 apiece. Three more errors from the Owls would eventually give the Cardinals the win.
 
Rice built an early lead in the second game that forced LU to comeback, and then closed it out to even the match at 1-1. It worked out to a 7-3 lead, but LU was able to work back and tie it at 8-8 before Rice opened the lead again.  Lamar responded and cut it to 19-18, but Rice went on a 6-1 run and finished out the victory.
 
"They didn't take over until we were at about 10-10 in the second game. We played the best match we've played since I got here in the serve and serve receive early, and then the serving fell apart," said Edwards. "When you play teams like Rice, you have to be able to play well for two hours.
 
For the entire match, Lamar served up three aces, but it also served 15 errors. Only three of the service errors were in the first set.
 
"We'll get there, just not there yet.  We spend a lot of time talking about how great teams make adjustments," he said. "It's a process, and tonight was just one more step in the process. When you're playing a team like Rice with a really high volleyball I.Q. and team that's able to handle pressure situations, you have to play smart."
 
The third game featured a Rice lead that LU could not overcome when the Owls built a lead that grew to 17-9. LU never held the lead in the set. In the fourth set, Lamar and Rice stayed neck-and-neck, until the Owls turned a 12-11 lead into 16-11 on a LU service error, two attack errors and a kill by Leah Mikesky.
 
"A great team would've looked at the third set, called it a throwaway and figured out the adjustments need to be made," said Edwards. "We just made too many mistakes in the fourth game."
 
Grant registered 12 kills in 29 attempts, and Cortney Moore accounted for 10 kills in 17 attempts, a .471 hitting percentage.  As a team, the Cardinals hit for a .176 average with 46 kills and 20 errors. Leah Mikesky led the match in kills with 17 and McKay Kyle had 12.
 
Haley Morton finished the match with a team-high 24 assists, followed by Ashley Ellis' 19. Defensively, Grant led the way with five total blocks and Lauren Stahlman had 17 digs.
 
"We passed for an average that was higher than ever since I got here.  We made some mistakes and let them run away with it," said Edwards. "You have to be in matches like that before you can win matches like that. That's a big step for us because we've never really been in matches like that.
 
"We're getting close," he said. "We'll get back in the gym and keep working hard to get better."
 
Up next for the Cardinals is the Delta Zeta Classic hosted by Texas State.  That tournament features Indiana, Texas State, Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern.  LU defeated TSU 3-1 in the season opener.